first chapter | open [voice + action]

[thirdarrow]

[ This is the first time Takakage has started a discussion instead of listening in and participating, so it took him a while to find the proper words for it.

Nevertheless, when he finally starts the transmission, his voice is quiet and confident, perhaps even a touch crystalline. ]

Hello, everyone. I am Takakage Kobayakawa, from the Land of the Rising Sun. You may also know me as MINTAKA from the previous Jaunt.

We have quite a few Persona users amongst us, myself included. Thus, I would like to propose that we meet and train together, so that those of us Investigating in future Jaunts will be able to pool our efforts together and use our gifts as a team. It will also aid in identifying Infiltrators, as I have noticed that our Personas also follow us if we take on alter egos. If you are partial to that idea, we can all share our abilities and compare what we are best at. I am aware that a few of us have also been Marked by Trumps, which may also change our Personas to some extent. That can be discussed as well.

As far as I know, I am the only Support Persona user in our midst, so it would be beneficial if you let me know, so I can best support you with what I can do. Noah is able to heal, scan surroundings, weaknesses, and detailed analysis - in addition to providing a psychic closed network which will be useful on stealth missions.

For those who have been Infiltrating with the Miners for the past Jaunt - may I also ask for your assistance? There was another Program with me, SAIPH - do you know if she is amongst us as a Traveler? I have something that belongs to her.

If you need me in person, I will be by the entrance next to the Trump phone. Thank you for your time.

[ True enough, he is seated on one of the stairs, with Noah floating above him in a stance similar to that adopted by guardian angels. ]

Comments

[leftbehindagain]

But how would that have any bearing? I mean, I picked up there was a message in the supermarket from hell, but that had nothing to do with the Grid. [Or, from what he's heard, with Anime Trope High School.]

I haven't, no, but I met Margaret-san when I first got here - she didn't stick around, though. And I've heard a lot about it from Kanji.

[thirdarrow]

I merely made observations. I could be wrong, and I expect to be proven wrong. But in the even that I am not, it could be very interesting.

[ But back to the Velvet Room. ]

Not Igor or William, then? Those were the attendants who served me when I visited it.

[leftbehindagain]

[Naoki has no idea how liminal space imagery works, just that the one time it included a giant 'HEY SOME OF OUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD' red flag. On to other things.]

Kanji mentioned Igor - with the nose, right? - but he was closer to Margaret-san, was always my impression. She helped him start getting his head around the tarot stuff.

[thirdarrow]

[ He's heard of Margaret, if anything else. ]

Interesting. I would attribute this to different universes being served by different attendants.

[leftbehindagain]

Maybe? Souji-san knew her too. I don't know who took care of Adachi-san's stuff.

[They've really only just managed civil conversations, and Naoki's not equipped for a Comparative Velvet Room talk anyway - that'll be Kanji, if it happens.]

[thirdarrow]

Master Adachi? I'm afraid I have not met him. Or was he ADAX from the Jaunt?

[ So many wild cards popping up everywhere... ]

[leftbehindagain]

Yeah, that was him. For added fun, most of us know him better as the culprit than as a Wild Card.

[Especially awkward when Naoki's sister was the second victim of the case...]

[thirdarrow]

[ The culprit... ]

I am afraid I am not very well-informed about the Inaba case. Could you explain?

[leftbehindagain]

Long story short, Izanami was conducting a social experiment. To do it, she gave a handful of people the power to access another world using TVs as a window to it. In all of our cases, one of those people used that power to kill people - for most of us, that was Adachi-san, and my sister was the second victim.

In his case, obviously he didn't use it to kill anyone, I ended up one of the victims, there were a lot more than two, and Sis was apparently browbeating him into giving a damn.

[thirdarrow]

[ Hm. Most interesting... a world where things unfolded differently. He was familiar with the concept of alternate timelines, but hearing about new ones never failed to surprise him. ]

I see. You trust his words, then?

[ He isn't accusing Naoki of blind trust, though. Mostly just an observation, because he knows that teenagers are a lot more capable than they seem. ]

[leftbehindagain]

I don't trust his words, at least not on their own. If he'd led off with the wrong thing when I first met him here, I would have punched him. [Wouldn't have been the first time he tried that, either.]

I trust his actions. We were both helping Naoto out a lot on the last jaunt, so we... spent a lot of time in close quarters. If he wasn't truly a different person than I know from home, he wouldn't have gotten so upset when I acknowledged I might get killed on the bomb disposal mission. He had a lot of work to do to earn that trust, and to his credit, he's done it.

The part about Sis just... sounds like something she'd have done, in that position.

[thirdarrow]

[ He listens attentively while Naoki speaks, and his affirmation might have drifted across the psychic link as well. ]

A sound judgment on your part. [ He sees no fault with that, but it doesn't mean he will not be keeping an eye on this Adachi. ]

May I have your permission to contact you with my Persona if the need arises? It will be a psychic, closed connection.

[leftbehindagain]

I try. [Look, just... don't freak the guy out, okay? He already has Souji-san with his back up.]

Absolutely. You never know when you might need to and all that.

[thirdarrow]

Alright, thank you. Hopefully this will not need to be used. [ But he doubts that.

The discussion seems to have winded down now, so he prompts Naoki if the other had anything else to say. ]

If you have any other questions I can answer, just let me know.